- STONE AGE ERA- Emphasis on your "Nation's" shamanistic and animist ties to a spirit world.- Different spirits influence and sometimes actively try to enter into the mortal world.- Different nations have different patron spirits and compete with others for resources/knowledge/spirit's favour.- "Nations" are towards the smaller scale, numbering in the hundreds and focusing on a pre-early agrarian cultures.

- MEDIEVAL/LOW FANTASY ERA- The NRP's main plotline is the meddling of extra-terrestrials on a medieval technology world. - Players will RP as kingdoms/republics/empires/city-states/etc: competing for favour and technology from off world alien species.- Moderators will take up the roles of overarching 'aliens' who bestow technology advanced equipment.- Another plot line emerges between resisting the 'aliens' or willingly comply with them for power over the world.

- MODERN/POST APOCALYPTIC ERA- Set in a world post-global environmental disaster/pandemic.- The focus of factions is on smaller groupings. Numbering in the tens generally. Competing for survivors, resources and equipment with other players.- Encourages players to 'team up' and combine their numbers. Though still retaining direct RP control over their survivors. - I.E. Two players team up, P1 has 30 survivors, P2 has 20 survivors, combining to make a group of 50 survivors. P1 has a personal cache of 5 assault rifles, P2 has a personal cache of a armoured car. The team also shares a group cache, to which they can share items from their personal cache with the other players in their group. Thing is though, do you trust them with it? Do they trust you?- Players can trade/raid/teamup/betray other players, while taking care of their group. Building compounds and safehouses, collecting valuable resources and equipment, fighting off threats from the wilderness.- Will probably be set in a pacific-northwest fictional state.

"I'm out of my depth here!" Visvaldis Vor Tepwej lamented to himself. Pressing his elbows against the gun rail of the Battered Seal. It wasn't long after dawn and already he felt a tingle in his throat for liqueur.

He looked a sorry sight. Leaning over with his dishevelled brown hair, patted down to look somewhat decent. Visvaldis has spent many hours alone in his cabin on the carrack. The more astute observer could notice that Visvaldis had worn the same jacket and breeches for a few days now and rarely disembarked the ship. On the quayside and docks around him, sizeable loads of supplies and materials were being loaded aboard the Battered Seal and others vessels docked besides her.

Sailors carried packs and equipment over their shoulders and up gangplanks. Before stowing them below decks. Notable passengers boarded the ship with tools and luggage they deemed worthy of the new world. A team of engineers brought instruments and papers, to be looked over and prepared for landing.

"Captain, you look like shit!" the Battered Seal's first mate said, walking next to Visvaldis after emerging from below deck. Visvaldis had struggled to find a suitable captain, considering the burial ceremony of the former's body scared many away from the position. Instead, Visvaldis made his fisherman father proud and made himself captain.

"I certainly feel it Mr Bendiksis"

Larjo Bendiksis was the man with real naval experience. A suitable candidate to command the ship while Visvaldis commanded the expedition. His greying horseshoe moustache and bulky frame made him seem rather intimidating too.

"This looks like a lot to lug across the ocea... oh shit it's Legerstroj" Bendiksis said with a weary drole in his words. Visvaldis turned his head to see a finely dressed man stride along the quayside with purpose. The man spots the duo and lifts his hand in a quick wave, weaving between sailors and supplies. He halts just before the gangplank.

"Mr Vor Tepwej! Can you explain to me, in your oooh so mighty knowledge of sailing and navigation! Why have you named my ship as the supply ship!" Captain Legerstroj shouted. "It's rather self-explanatory Captain" Bendiksis shouted back, garnering chuckles and short laughs from the sailors around them.

"Mr Vor Tepwej, a captain who knew what they were doing, would give that man twelve lashings!" Legerstroj spat out with a finger pointed to Bendiksis.

"Captain Legerstroj, please... The details have already been approved and we leave soon. Please consider this matter settled" Visvaldis tried to reason with the captain, brushing off the blatant comments about his worth as the watched Legerstroj storm off.

"Did you know I have an interest in science captain?" the first mate said to Visvaldis, who turned his head to the senior in puzzlement.

"I'm going to actively survey the wildlife of the new world. Find an insect with the biggest teeth and stuff them up Captain Legerstroj's arsehole!" Larjo Bendiksis said, like he'd either used that threat before or had actually done it before.

"Well, I hope our third captain will be more agreeable to you" Visvaldis told Largo, feeling a light headed spell drift over his head.

"Sir! A royal carriage approaches!" A sailor shouts to Visvaldis, who feels his faintness into a unsettling feeling of nausea."Oh... Okay" Visvaldis really didn't know what to do. Should he head back to his cabin quickly and freshen up? Should he change his jacket?

He instantly starts brushing his hair with his hands as Bendiksis quickly shouts to the sailors to clear space for the arrivals.

Visvaldis grabs a waterskin and washes his mouth and face, as a quartet of horsemen approach the wharf. "Make way! Back up!" A horseman, wearing a black cloak with a golden sun badge starts shouting at sailors. His horse starts to clap it's shoes onto the cobblestones and unnerve those too close. The sun shines of their breastplates and sallets as the carriage, painted black with blue and yellow furnishes, rolls on the cobblestones and stops before the gangplank.

Visvaldis gulps and descends the gangplank. Holding his hands in a neutral clasp, at least he hoped was neutral.

A servant on the carriage hops off and opens the narrow door, allowing a woman of toasted brown hair to emerge in a blue jacket. Not entirely ladylike, but that wasn't the fashion of the princess-consort liked to promote.

Visvaldis felt a ease in his stomach a little, at least enough to bow for her majesty as she emerged and stepped forward.

"Your majesty, it's a delight to see you here" Visvaldis spoke to the ground, before rising up.

"Thank you Mr Vor Tepwej, I have come to introduce you to your fellow captain and wish her well on her journey" Anna Vor Oranzs' voice was somewhat deep but regal. Visvaldis could tell she was used to lecture work.

A second figure emerged from the carriage, another woman, wearing a deep blue doublet and short ruff. Various seashells and tokens dangle from a necklace over under her pale ruff.

"Mr Vor Tepwej, this is Inga Sapsejes, my student and friend at the academy of saltwater magics" the royal introduced her companion to Visvaldis, who's green eyes struck with his and a polite smile peeled over her jaw.

"I will be captaining the Twin Strings, Mr Vor Tepwej" Inga spoke with ease, if anything with self-assuredness. Visvaldis lifted a smile back at her.

"It'll be an honour to have a Sea-Mage in our company your majesty. I am sure that the Twin Strings is almost ready to weigh anchor" Visvaldis eased his voice out of diplomatic tones and into comfortable.

Then the princess-consort leaned in closer to him."Thank you Mr Vor Tepwej, for your discretion over a recent incident. I'm sorry for what you had to see" The royal highness whispered into Visvaldis' ear, feeling her warm breath tickle against his hair. Visvaldis rarely heard genuinely kind words.

An grateful smile slid from his lips. "Thank you your majesty" before bowing to the royal as she and her protégé left to walk the quayside.

Visvaldis felt better as he ascended back up the gangplank. He had a new spring in his step, maybe he wasn't totally stranded on this mission. As his shoes creaked onto the deck, a sleek caravel sailed past, with it's triangular sails unfurled and pushed taut against the wind.

Royal authority flags fly it's bow and masts. Visvaldis pauses for a few scant moments, spotting a familiar face aboard the caravel.

Vidasorjan stands on the aft deck of the slim vessel, not noticing the clerk-captain as he sails past. Visvaldis spots a woman in a black and blue half cape standing next the to king's agent as the ship glides out of the Harbour of Janis.

Visvaldis is relieved. Letting out the tense air that he held in his throat and chest. He'd hoped that it was the last time he'd see Vidasorjan, preferably, for the rest of his life.

"Excuse me captain" A sailor said behind him, lugging a pair of crossbows over his shoulders. Visvaldis stepped out of the way, collected himself, and then headed back for his cabin. He thought it best that he should get washed now.

The colony fleet is prepared, three ships, the Battered Seal, the Twin Strings and the Elegance. Set off from the Sapphire City to the New World, with necessary supplies and materials for the journey. They set off from the Sapphire City on the 13th January, 1500.

An Envoy is dispatched from Vo-Spejlia with a retinue of royal authority members

Daystur Matenjo sits comfortably in the pleasure barge. Watching the team of servants row against the current of the river. The feathers in his round cap struggled against the wind as Daystur looked across the west bank. The slopped bastions of Fort Klajo slid into the Sava, with shirt buildings and docks pushed up against the dense ramparts.

A collection of leisure boats could be heard, sliding down stream. Judging by their finery and servants, they are headed for the Madara Quarter. They are relaxed and celebrating the new year. Daystur listens to the laughter and greetings as the two vessels pass each other. The man sat next to Daystur waves to the jubilant gentry with his burgundy gloves and his wide grin.

"The best of a new year!" the man shouts, before relaxing back onto the bench.

The sun pokes through the layer of clouds and pours it's light across the river. They sky had threatened to rain all day, with many donning cloaks and capes for the occasion. The bridge ahead, that connects the Fortress to the Aprij district, spans the river with five arches, with houses built on the stone bridge itself. Daystur can spot buckets pulling up from the river and rubbish being dumped over the edge.

The plaster and brick walls of the upper class townhouses and pools recline along the east bank. With trees and other forms of greenery being prevalent on the Viskijs side of the river. All around him, Daystur can hear parades and celebrations of the new year. The voracity and the style depended district to district, but it was all in observance of the same thing.

The shadow of the bridge pulls over the bow of the pleasure barge, sweeping over each rower before finally covering Daystur and the aft. The sleek vessel quickly dives through the brick arch of the bridge before pushing out the other side. Daystur notices the thud of one of the oars knocking a bucket as the barge speed past."Where exactly are we going Mr Vidasorjan?" Daystur asked the man next to him. As the vessel clears the bridge.

"Have you never been to the Aprij Quarter?" the man looks surprised at Daystur.

"No, where in the Aprij Quarter are we going?" Daystur tries to dampen his frustration.

"Oh well... we're meeting at the Cavistoj House, though I reckon we'll be early" Mr Vidasorjan explained as Aprij Quarter started rolling along east riverbank. Daystur had been to the house before, though never by boat.The quarter was a ridgeline covered in streets and houses, blocking the view of the rest of the district along the harbour of Aprij.

With the pace set by the pleasure barge's rowers, they quickly skimmed along the riverbank, past a myriad of docks and moored riverboats. Along the river side thoroughfare, Dayster could see revellers and decorations draped over the streets.

Then a gated canal soon appeared along the shore. The rudder was turned and the rowers slowed their pace. Daystur saw guards drag the gates open, pulling against the water and the mud beneath it. The sleek barge turned in the water and the rowers pulled their oars from the short gun rail. They lifted the oars skyward and then pushed them into the water like harpoons, using them as barge poles to move the vessel into the canal.

It was a tight canal, another shadow pulled over them. This time from the tall buildings that stood tall over the narrow canal. The watermarked and moss covered bricks of the canal flanked them closely. The sound of the city started diming and becoming a distant murmurs echoed against the thin canal's walls.

The left side of the canal wall gave way to smooth steps, layered on each other before a small garden. Flowers of many colours and dense vines clung to the walls surrounding the garden. A small collection of attendants, all wearing golden suns somewhere on their jackets or hats, stood at attention waiting for them. The rowers soon held the barge steady and Vidasorjan waved his palm for Daystur to disembark.

As his boots stamped onto the smooth steps, Daystur noticed how the garden had no exits, save to a doorway on the far end. A private entrance into the Cavistoj House? Daystur wondered if he was starting to make an impression.

The attendants take his cloak off of him and a senior of their number walks him to the door. Daystur hears Vidasorjan giving orders behind his back to the barge. "You're no longer required" he heard the man say to the rowers. Was he going to be staying awhile? Daystur pondered with a smile as he walked through the doorway.

Once inside, Daystur recognised the corridor. He had seen people leave through it though never enter before. He was escorted out into the hall, where paintings and tapestries lay over the walls in various fades of colour. Then a familiar face appeared, standing next to the wooden staircase.

"Sir Matenjo, her majesty is not hear at the moment. If you'd be so kind as to wait in the dining hall sir" Hansel Vor Lipesat, an aged house steward tells Daystur.

"Of course Hansel" Daystur peeled a smile as he walked past the servant, knowing where he was going.

He turned through an ornate wooden doorway, before emerging into a long hall. The tables previously there had been moved to the walls, beneath sprawling paintings. A fire burns in an iron fire pit at the centre of the hall, a few chairs have been shuffled around it.

Daystur takes a seat and feels the warmth soak through his breeches. For a few moments, everything is quiet, except from the crackling sound of the fire. Daystur leans back in his seat and rubs his eyes, letting out a yawn as he settles into comfort.

Minutes go by, Daystur just stares into the fire. The faint beat of feet and shouts slip through the windows. Occasionally listening to a set of footsteps moving through the building somewhere.

Then, Hansel walks into the hall, followed by a thin-moustached man, only a few years his younger. "Mr Visvaldis Vor Tepwaj sir" Hansel loudly announces, before giving way to the man himself. A humbly dressed man, in a long cloak and carrying a ledger filled the parchments. Daystur sits up straight in his wooden seat, he wasn't expecting anyone else to arrive.

"Uh... Hansel, can you bring us some drinks! Mr Vor Tepwaj, do you mind if we have rum?" Daystur tells Hansel as he leaves back through the doorway. Visvaldis lifts a meek smile. "I don't mind uh... sir?" Visvaldis says as he lingers closely to the doorway."Sir Daystur Matenjo, Captain of the Battered Seal" Daystur offers an open palm for the newcomer to shake, which is returned rather limply.

"Tell me, why are you here mister Vor Tepwaj?" Daystur wanted to know keenly as to relieve his surprise in some way. Visvaldis looks perplexed at Daystur, as he takes a seat, he refrains from making eye contact.

"I'm here for the same meeting as you are sir. I've been summoned to represent the Anjlana Family Holdings in this meeting with his majesty" Vor Tepwaj explains. Daystur feels his heart sink in his chest.

"His majesty!?... I thought I was meeting with the princess-consort?" Daystur asks Visvaldis, trying to mask his emotions. Visvaldis looks more visibly confused.

"I'm here to meet the king, perhaps we are meeting them both?" Visvaldis is trying to rationalise this perdicament as some sort of mistake. Daystur looks into the fire, why wouldn't Anna tell me the king was here as well?

"I thought this would also be an opportune time to present the king with my research and findings" Visvaldis opens his ledger on his lap and started sifting through documents and charts. Daystur is only half listening.

"Would you like to hear about them Sir Matenjo? I have sea charts and cross-examined rumors from pirates and all manner of statements from survivors of shipwreck and even marooning!" Visvaldis continues, looking up at Daystur with a grin and pulling out neatly written parchments.

"What are you talking about Mr Vor Tepwaj?" Daystur finally returns his full attention to the clerk.

"What do you mean... We're here to discuss the King's plans for the new world settlement sir" Visvaldis drops his frown in puzzlement.

Hansel returns to the room, though without a rum decanter and glasses. He instead returns with a large silver bowl in both hands.

"What is this Hansel?" Daystur looks over to be ignored by the servant, who places the bowl on a table, revealing to be filled with water. "Well, it's no doubt here to freshen up before we meet his majesty" Visvaldis says as if a wave of uncertainty has drained from him.

"Well, you're too late then" A recognisable voice echoes within the hall from the doorway.

Teodor Vor Oranzs enters the room to the almost immediate standing of Visvaldis and Daystur. The king is followed by three armed men, wearing the same golden suns the attendants did. Vidasorjan also enters, following after the king before shutting the door behind him.

"Please, sit down gentlemen" Teodor says to the men around the fire, who oblige their king. Daystur starts noticing his heartbeat, pounding against his chest and butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He wanted to shout and rave what the hell was going on, but he had to cage up his frustration in front of the king. The armed men take up to standing against the table, their basket hilt swords rattle from their belts.

"I'm sorry that Hansel can't bring in refreshments at the moment, but I have business with you... both" Teodor casually waves his hand towards the door, the charcoal-black stained hands that finish roughly around his wrists.

"I know you weren't" Teodor responds, walking up towards the fire pit and warming his hands. The silence in the room takes a pressing form. Daystur's collar is suddenly tighter than he thought it was.

"I've been made aware that this isn't the first time in my wife's house" King Teodor told Daystur, glancing over at Visvaldis. Vor Tepwej closes his ledger and tries not to make eye contact.

"I also know Sir Matenjo, that you've been fucking my wife" Teodor continued and Daystur jumps from his seat.

"I don't understand your maj..." Daystur feels the gloved hands of the armed men push his shoulders down back into the seat. Visvaldis is startled and by his face, confounded.

"You know fully well, do you think the house servants don't tell me? Do you think I don't have ears in my own kingdom?" Teodor gently pushes his hands into the fire. Without a flinch in pain, the flames roll and slide along his hands like he'd dipped them in water.

"I know that Anna isn't the sort to be... constrained by marriage" The king looks to Daystur with a warm smile, still twisting his hands in the flames. Daystur looks on in trepidation and fear.

"No, my lord please! I didn't mean anything" Daystur mutters as he starts trying to shake off the guards. Then the cold iron of a knife presses against his neck, looking at the burgundy gloved hand that could only be Vidasorjan's. The third guard gently puts his hand on Vor Tepwaj's shoulder, who looks up to the soldier and is intimidated into silence.

"But I can't have you disrupt the line of succession with any bastards of yours" Teodor finally pulls his hands from the flames and then steps towards Daystur.

"No your majesty! Have mercy! It was only the once..." Daystur tries to say but then the king lunges at him.

"No, don't you say another word!"

Teodor rams his thumbs into Daystur's eyes. His hand's hiss against Daystur's face like a steak pressed into a hot pan. Daystur starts screeching as the palms melt the skin of his cheeks, his eyes start melting and steam starts spilling out of his sockets.

Vidasorjan pulls back his knife so the king can push his hands further into Daystur's face. The flesh of his ears starts peeling away and his eyebrows singe and burn.

Daystur tries to push the king's hands of him, but his fingertips slap and sear against the king's boiling wrists.

The captain starts to wail, a bizarre, low yowl. The rendering skin and flesh starts drooling off Daystur's face and spilling onto his jacket. The hairs on his face flash into flames briefly. Before a final push of Teodor's thumbs sinks them through his sockets and into his brain.

The king removes his hands and the blood starts trickle out of the dead man's eyes. The blackened skin of Daystur's face begins to hardened, but the flesh is still liquid beneath it. The guards remove their hands from the mutilated body, as the mucus and blood that was it's brain starts oozing out from the skull.

Teodor walks over to the bowl of water, with burnt skin and viscous flesh still strung between his finger like melted cheese. More steam fizzles from the bowl as the king washes his hands. Visvaldis is wiping the tears off of his cheeks.

"The lesson here Mr Vor Tepwaj is..." King Teodor finishes washing his hands and wipes them on his jacket. He takes steps towards Visvaldis in his seat, pointing his unharmed finger at the man.

"The same fate awaits you... if you think of playing me the fool, once you get to the new world. Do you understand?" Teodor sees the meek clerk wriggle in his seat when the King's fingers gets closer.

"Yes your majesty!" Visvaldis' cheeks are red and puffy, still moist from his tears. Steam and smoke still rising from Sir Matenjo's face and neck.

"Good, then our meeting is concluded Mr Vor Tepwej" Teodor raises a warm smile to the man and departs, leaving the body in the seat across from Visvaldis.

"I wish you and the company good fortune on your voyage" The king shouts without looking back at the merchant.

"And a happy new year!"

Visvaldis starts to tremble, his fingers shake on his ledger as Vidasorjan turns around beneath the doorway.

"Commandeer this corpse's ship for your trip. It should get you to the new world with little hassle, though... you'll need a new captain" Vidasorjan chuckled at Daystur's body before leaving the hall. The clerk quickly makes his way out of the room. As the smell of burnt flesh starts to stink out the hall, with the limp body slumped on the seat.

Sir Daystur Matenjor, lover of the princess-consort Anna Vor Oranzs, is murdered by the King Teodor 2nd.

Visvaldis Vor Tepwaj, a company clerk of one of the Eight Companies, is given the encouragement and resources he needs, to set off to the new world to establish a trade post.

Description: The City of Vo-Spejlia, is a shimmering city sitting out in the sea. A renowned port and capital of a dominating naval-power. Vo-Spejlia draws the trade routes that flow around the south cape and around Albion. The city isle is home to sailors and commoners as much as it is to magi and academics. From the docks to the districts, the city is filled with pools, rooftop gardens, tall academies and long shipyards.

Government: The City-Kingdom is administered by various magistrates who oversee the districts of the city. The other islands are dotted with outposts and work camps, producing raw materials and cash crops to be shipped to the City. These camps are run by captains, who report to the state-owned trade companies. At the head of it all is the royal authority, a collection of district nobles and retainers, who report to the king at the top. On a more local level. Districts are divided into street-captaincies and company holdings. Subservient to the magistrates or company directors respectively. Magistrates councils are called semi-regularly by the royal authority, usually by the king, but not uncommon for the magistrates to call either.

The Vor Oranzs' dynasty have ruled over the city-kingdom as a noble family since the Voman conquest. They have been the ruling dynasty since their victory in the Drowning War. A family of exiled pyromancers, members of this family are cast as either "Doused" or "Lit". A doused member is one that doesn't develop magic ability of any kind. Lit members are those that have magic ability and are schooled in pyromancy.Since the Drowning War, there have been five "doused" monarchs and eleven "lit" monarchs, including the current king, Theodor 2nd, nicknamed "Ashen Hands".

Economy: The raw materials necessary for textiles manufacturing and the sugarcane are grown on the other islands, some being completely dominated by cash crops. These resources are harvested and shipped to the manufactories of Vo-Spejlia's docklands and poorer quarters. Sustenance fishing and seaweed farming dot around these major industries, whilst wine is produced on rooftop vineyards and gardens of the social elite. Smaller domestic industries exist, such as crude rum distilleries in poorer districts, along with tailors and carpet makers in the noble districts.

The textiles and sugar trade sustains not only their cities needs but also supports shipyards, merchant warehouses and academic institutions. The wine trade is more of a premium luxury that is associated as a status symbol amongst nobility both domestic and foreign. All industries though in Vo-Spejlia are tithed and taxed by the eight companies. All of which have the monarch as a prominent shareholder and takes a slice of the takings from all.

Everything else is in demand. Particularly grains to feed the population accustomed to sugarcane and seafood. As well as lumber for an ever hungry navy and commercial fleets. Various minerals and ores are also prized for and are always acquired by the military and social elite before they can be traded with smaller companies and general populace.

Religion: The ocean is the god of Vo-Spejlia, it's where the founding Spejilings ventured from and is where Vomen washed up from. Spejilings are baptised in it and their dead are sent to drift in it. Totems are erected on beaches and against cliffs in veneration of it and they bathe in saltwater before ceremonies. Ocean druids and magi in Vo-Spejlian society are near indistinguishable, as the only magics condoned in Vo-Spejlia for non-royals are ocean and storm magics.

There are religious minorities, but centuries of cleansings and executions by drowning have painted a fear on dissenters and they hide their faith.

Geography: The Vo-Spejlian Islands are a collection of islands, the majority effectively giant fields for cash crops, stripped of trees and debris over precious soil. Then you have the city itself, the Sapphire City. The island and the city are indistinguishable, with layers of buildings, docks and gardens built over the island. Creating a cityscape unmatched across the world.

Map of the City

Vo-Spejlia's Sapphire City is divided into districts and docks. Some are built dense, impoverished areas packed against warehouses and dockyards. Whiles others are spacious and open quarters with gardens and pools of the upper classes. A general rule of thumb is by height, with the mansions, company offices and academies on the slopes of the hills, with the poorer areas closer to the ocean (and more prone to flooding).

Population:3 million

DemographicsThe vast majority of people in Vo-Spejlia are human and the extreme majority live in the Sapphire City itself. An earlier nation would see these humans divided between Vomen, the elite conquerors, and the Spejlings, the native founders of the island city. However, both have intermingled over the centuries and very few claim to be pure bred Vomen or Spejlings. With any trade city, you are gonna get token populations of other races and cultures. Although they are usually forced into tiny ghettos within districts

Personalities of Note--Theodor 2nd of the Vor Oranzs Dynasty--"Ashen-Hands", 11th Lit King of the Vo-Spejlian Islands, Lord-Admiral of the Hurricane Fleet, Shareholder of the Eight Companies. Chosen by Salt and Fire.--Anna Vor Oranzs--Princess-consort of the Vor Oranzs Dynasty, Lecturer of Meteorology at the Academy of Saltwater Magics.--Mihails Vor Tevej--"the blind", Incumbent head administrator of the Royal Authority--Tatjana Jorbaz--Rector of the Academy of Maritime Engineering. ((More to come!))

Institutions:The Royal Authority.- An institution headed directly by the monarch of Vo-Spejlia, the royal authority is a collection of nobles and individuals of special interest that enact the monarch's laws and initiatives. They are regularly used to liaise between the king and other organisations, both domestic and foreign. It is not uncommon for the authority to be a diverse mix of professions, from clerks to smugglers.

The Eight Companies.- Originally, there were twelve companies, however assassinations, arson and riots have reduced the number over the centuries to eight. The Dagninz Holdings, North Spejlia Company, East Cape Company, Garso Company, Anjlana Family Holdings, Blood Cuffs Company, Madara Quarter Company and the Havajabeach Company make up the current eight companies.Covering a wide range of productions and markets, what unites them is that the monarch is a shareholder in all of them. Thus securing the royal family an income away from the treasury as well as maintain royal control on domestic and international trade.

The Academy of Maritime Engineering.The Academy of Maritime Engineering is a collection of naval engineers and learned sorts. Gathered at the Academy Hall of the Royal Shipyards. They work to develop and study existing technology, whiles also innovating research in newer ones too. They also see the development of coastal fortifications as well as provide engineers to the navy and territorial corps.

The Academy of Saltwater Magics.In the culture of the Spejlings, magically touched children are taken to the academy of Saltwater Magics. From meditation to physical exercise regimes, young magi are trained and taught into manipulating the ocean waves to their will. This is a combination of educations in moon cycles, meteorology as well as oceanography, to understand the natural and magical forces that can be utilised in practical means of saltwater manipulation. Advanced students and practitioners can be found in the employ of the royal authority or the eight companies, or even the armed forces. While lacking students or aged magi can see themselves working as ocean clergy or staffing the academy itself.

Military:Organization: The military of the Vo-Spejlia is a navy dominated force. Lord-Admirals have the highest say in the Vo-Spejling armed forces, even overriding the orders of Territorial Corps officers.

Troop Total: 35,000 troops serve in the Vo-Spejling armed forces.

Army: 5,000 troops serve in the Territorial Corps. An army tasked mostly with the defence of the Sapphire City from external and internal threats. The Territorial Corp is funded by the Royal Authority, which has helped to train and equip the small force into an above-average fighting force.

Navy: 30,000 troops serve in the Vo-Spejlian navy, either as sailors or as marines. Usually divided between the various carracks and caravels of the city-kingdom's navy, but also put to manning outposts across the islands and guarding commercial fleets.The navy is divided into four fleets. The Hurricane Fleet, The Hammerhead Fleet, The Narwhal Fleet and the Riptide Fleet. Each with a Lord-Admiral commanding various commodores and captains.

Other: The Academy of Maritime Engineering provides many engineers learned in siege engineering and construction of siege equipment. Both on land and at sea. Thus furbishing the defences of the Sapphire City with many batteries and fighting positions along it's shoreline and deeper into the city.

Strengths:Naval Traditions: To be selected to crew a ship is coming of age amongst Spejling society, whether as a cabin boy or a lord-admiral. Children grow up spotting flags and playing marines and pirates. Navy veterans are venerated and monuments are built in their honours. The Streets of the Sapphire city are named after famous sailors and battles at sea. Those in the navy are pushed by centuries of tradition and history to be faster and stronger and deadlier. Any merchant, across the world, would find themselves lucky to have a spejling crew their ship, let alone captain it.

A Home to Intelligentsia: Away from the conflict and uncertainty of the mainland. Intelligentsia both domestic and foreign are invited to tutor and research at the colleges and academies of the Sapphire City. Though the fields of research are wide and far-between, Vo-Spejlia keeps up with the continent's foremost minds because of her academies.

Eight Companies Strong: The eight companies work tirelessly to draw in ships and goods to the city-kingdom. The strive to infiltrate new markets and strike treatise with both savages and nobles. No only do they compete against each other for access to foreign markets and trade routes, but they are all pressed under the boot of the king's whim.

Weaknesses: The Bare Necessities: Vo-Spejlia lacks bare necessities such as lumber and various foodstuffs. What they do get come's from trade with mainland nations or from smugglers, both of which are expensive and not necessarily indefinite.

No Cavalry: Though horses have been imported to Vo-Spejlia and can be seen in the city regularly. They are used to mainly pull carriages and transport, not for combat. The vast majority of Spejlings, both noble and commoner have never ridden a horse nor know how to.

Rolls

Basic Demographics & Geography

Territory Size:1. Your nation is but a speck upon the map; perhaps it is an island or small archipelago, or perhaps it's just a tiny swathe of land too small to draw the attention of any would-be conquerors.Population:3 million (pretty average)Urbanization:5. Your nation is the very epitome of urbanization: within your borders lies a jewel of the world, one of the largest settlements in the known world. In this way your entire nation is basically just one city that is grand and powerful enough to exert its influence over the surrounding region. A city-state!Government Type:9. Your nation is effectively a magocracy - that is to say, it is under the rule of magi. Whether this just means that one mighty wizard in a great tower effectively rules as a dictator or that there is an entire ruling caste of magic-users is up to you, but make sure to include unicorns. Political Stability:4. Your country has the occasional highwaymen, but they mostly hide in the hills and forests far out in the countryside. By and large, your realm is stable.

Economy

Overall Wealth:4. Your nation has a solid and rather stable economy. You have the means to finance most of the projects that your government wants to undertake, and most of your people enjoy a good standard of living.Government's Primary Means of Generating Income:6. Through Proto-Socialism state-owned businesses, trading companies, and investments, your government manages to make a healthy profit.Technology:4. Technological Parity; you're keeping up with the rest of Albion pretty well.Agriculture:6. In favor of staple or food crops, most of your farmland is devoted to the growing of cash crops. While this produces money, a fair amount of that is probably spent on importing food from places with more of an abundance. This is fine and you're probably wealthier for it, but your people rarely enjoy fresh produce and you have grown heavily dependent on the trade routes that feed your nation.Natural Resources:Sugar, wine, textiles

MilitaryMilitary Size2. Small core of elite soldiers, supplemented by some mercenaries in wartime. Overall you do not have a very large force, but your soldiers are more effective than the levies of peasants that many other nations employ.Military Focus5. Powerful navy; small but decent army; fair amount of magic users; capable corps of siege engineers and sappers.Military Leadership1. Generals are very loyal to the government but gained the position by hereditary status and not necessarily meritMilitary Reputation5. Popular domestically; considered craven by foreigners

Description: The City of Vo-Spejlia, is a shimmering city sitting out in the sea. A renowned port and capital of a dominating naval-power. Vo-Spejlia draws the trade routes that flow around the south cape and around Albion. The city isle is home to sailors and commoners as much as it is to magi and academics. From the docks to the districts, the city is filled with pools, rooftop gardens, tall academies and long shipyards.

Government: The City-Kingdom is administered by various magistrates who oversee the districts of the city. The other islands are dotted with outposts and work camps, producing raw materials and cash crops to be shipped to the City. These camps are run by captains, who report to the state-owned trade companies. At the head of it all is the royal authority, a collection of district nobles and retainers, who report to the king at the top. On a more local level. Districts are divided into street-captaincies and company holdings. Subservient to the magistrates or company directors respectively. Magistrates councils are called semi-regularly by the royal authority, usually by the king, but not uncommon for the magistrates to call either.

The Vor Oranzs' dynasty have ruled over the city-kingdom as a noble family since the Voman conquest. They have been the ruling dynasty since their victory in the Drowning War. A family of exiled pyromancers, members of this family are cast as either "Doused" or "Lit". A doused member is one that doesn't develop magic ability of any kind. Lit members are those that have magic ability and are schooled in pyromancy.Since the Drowning War, there have been five "doused" monarchs and eleven "lit" monarchs, including the current king, Theodor 2nd, nicknamed "Ashen Hands".

Economy: The raw materials necessary for textiles manufacturing and the sugarcane are grown on the other islands, some being completely dominated by cash crops. These resources are harvested and shipped to the manufactories of Vo-Spejlia's docklands and poorer quarters. Sustenance fishing and seaweed farming dot around these major industries, whilst wine is produced on rooftop vineyards and gardens of the social elite. Smaller domestic industries exist, such as crude rum distilleries in poorer districts, along with tailors and carpet makers in the noble districts.

The textiles and sugar trade sustains not only their cities needs but also supports shipyards, merchant warehouses and academic institutions. The wine trade is more of a premium luxury that is associated as a status symbol amongst nobility both domestic and foreign. All industries though in Vo-Spejlia are tithed and taxed by the eight companies. All of which have the monarch as a prominent shareholder and takes a slice of the takings from all.

Everything else is in demand. Particularly grains to feed the population accustomed to sugarcane and seafood. As well as lumber for an ever hungry navy and commercial fleets. Various minerals and ores are also prized for and are always acquired by the military and social elite before they can be traded with smaller companies and general populace.

Religion: The ocean is the god of Vo-Spejlia, it's where the founding Spejilings ventured from and is where Vomen washed up from. Spejilings are baptised in it and their dead are sent to drift in it. Totems are erected on beaches and against cliffs in veneration of it and they bathe in saltwater before ceremonies. Ocean druids and magi in Vo-Spejlian society are near indistinguishable, as the only magics condoned in Vo-Spejlia for non-royals are ocean and storm magics.

There are religious minorities, but centuries of cleansings and executions by drowning have painted a fear on dissenters and they hide their faith.

Geography: The Vo-Spejlian Islands are a collection of islands, the majority effectively giant fields for cash crops, stripped of trees and debris over precious soil. Then you have the city itself, the Sapphire City. The island and the city are indistinguishable, with layers of buildings, docks and gardens built over the island. Creating a cityscape unmatched across the world.

Map of the City

Vo-Spejlia's Sapphire City is divided into districts and docks. Some are built dense, impoverished areas packed against warehouses and dockyards. Whiles others are spacious and open quarters with gardens and pools of the upper classes. A general rule of thumb is by height, with the mansions, company offices and academies on the slopes of the hills, with the poorer areas closer to the ocean (and more prone to flooding).

Population:3 million

DemographicsThe vast majority of people in Vo-Spejlia are human and the extreme majority live in the Sapphire City itself. An earlier nation would see these humans divided between Vomen, the elite conquerors, and the Spejlings, the native founders of the island city. However, both have intermingled over the centuries and very few claim to be pure bred Vomen or Spejlings. With any trade city, you are gonna get token populations of other races and cultures. Although they are usually forced into tiny ghettos within districts

Personalities of NoteTheodor 2nd of the Var Oranzs Dynasty. "Ashen-Hands", 11th Lit King of the Vo-Spejlian Islands, Lord-Admiral of the Hurricane Fleet, Shareholder of the Eight Companies. Chosen by Salt and Fire.

Institutions:The Royal Authority.

The Eight Companies.

The Academy of Maritime Engineering.

The Academy of Saltwater Magics.

Military:Organization: The military of the Vo-Spejlia is a navy dominated force.

Troop Total: 35,000 troops serve in the Vo-Spejling armed forces.

Army: 5,000 troops serve in the Territorial Corps. An army tasked mostly with the defence of the Sapphire City from external and internal threats. The Territorial Corp is funded by the Royal Authority, which has helped to train and equip the small force into an above-average fighting force.

Navy: 30,000 troops serve in the Vo-Spejlian navy, either as sailors or as marines. Usually divided between the various carracks and caravels of the city-kingdom's navy, but also put to manning outposts across the islands and guarding commercial fleets.The navy is divided into four fleets. The Hurricane Fleet, The Hammerhead Fleet, The Narwhal Fleet and the Riptide Fleet. Each with a Lord-Admiral commanding various commodores and captains.

Other: The Academy of Maritime Engineering provides many engineers learned in siege engineering and construction of siege equipment. Both on land and at sea. Thus furbishing the defences of the Sapphire City with many batteries and fighting positions along it's shoreline and deeper into the city.

Strengths:Naval Traditions: To be selected to crew a ship is coming of age amongst Spejling society, whether as a cabin boy or a lord-admiral. Children grow up spotting flags and playing marines and pirates. Navy veterans are venerated and monuments are built in their honours. The Streets of the Sapphire city are named after famous sailors and battles at sea. Those in the navy are pushed by centuries of tradition and history to be faster and stronger and deadlier. Any merchant, across the world, would find themselves lucky to have a spejling crew their ship, let alone captain it.

A Home to Intelligentsia: Away from the conflict and uncertainty of the mainland. Intelligentsia both domestic and foreign are invited to tutor and research at the colleges and academies of the Sapphire City. Though the fields of research are wide and far-between, Vo-Spejlia keeps up with the continent's foremost minds because of her academies.

Eight Companies Strong: The eight companies work tirelessly to draw in ships and goods to the city-kingdom. The strive to inflitrate new markets and strike treatise with both savages and nobles.

Weaknesses: The Bare Necessities: Vo-Spejlia lacks bare necessities such as lumber and various foodstuffs. What they do get come's from trade with mainland nations or from smugglers, both of which are expensive and not necessarily indefinite.

No Cavalry: Though horses have been imported to Vo-Spejlia and can be seen in the city regularly. They are used to mainly pull carriages and transport, not for combat. The vast majority of Spejlings, both noble and commoner have never ridden a horse nor know how to.

Rolls

Basic Demographics & Geography

Territory Size:1. Your nation is but a speck upon the map; perhaps it is an island or small archipelago, or perhaps it's just a tiny swathe of land too small to draw the attention of any would-be conquerors.Population:3 million (pretty average)Urbanization:5. Your nation is the very epitome of urbanization: within your borders lies a jewel of the world, one of the largest settlements in the known world. In this way your entire nation is basically just one city that is grand and powerful enough to exert its influence over the surrounding region. A city-state!Government Type:9. Your nation is effectively a magocracy - that is to say, it is under the rule of magi. Whether this just means that one mighty wizard in a great tower effectively rules as a dictator or that there is an entire ruling caste of magic-users is up to you, but make sure to include unicorns. Political Stability:4. Your country has the occasional highwaymen, but they mostly hide in the hills and forests far out in the countryside. By and large, your realm is stable.

Economy

Overall Wealth:4. Your nation has a solid and rather stable economy. You have the means to finance most of the projects that your government wants to undertake, and most of your people enjoy a good standard of living.Government's Primary Means of Generating Income:6. Through Proto-Socialism state-owned businesses, trading companies, and investments, your government manages to make a healthy profit.Technology:4. Technological Parity; you're keeping up with the rest of Albion pretty well.Agriculture:6. In favor of staple or food crops, most of your farmland is devoted to the growing of cash crops. While this produces money, a fair amount of that is probably spent on importing food from places with more of an abundance. This is fine and you're probably wealthier for it, but your people rarely enjoy fresh produce and you have grown heavily dependent on the trade routes that feed your nation.Natural Resources:Sugar, wine, textiles

MilitaryMilitary Size2. Small core of elite soldiers, supplemented by some mercenaries in wartime. Overall you do not have a very large force, but your soldiers are more effective than the levies of peasants that many other nations employ.Military Focus5. Powerful navy; small but decent army; fair amount of magic users; capable corps of siege engineers and sappers.Military Leadership1. Generals are very loyal to the government but gained the position by hereditary status and not necessarily meritMilitary Reputation5. Popular domestically; considered craven by foreigners